Pokémon: The Kaeta Winter Festival
by Tigreye33
Summary: First Installment of the Pure Aura Series. Ash comes to Kaeta with all of the friends he'd traveled with on his travels around the world. Little does he know that this festival is only the beginning of a huge battle between light and dark - and he must save the girl and Lucario caught in between!
1. A Land of Extremes

_Chapter One: A Land of Extremes_

The Kaeta Region is a land of extremes - extreme mountain ranges, extreme weather, even Pokémon trainers with an extreme taste for battling. Trainers come from all over the world to Kaeta to challenge everything from its grand Enigma Mountain to the vast Bronzerth Desert. Because of the terrain being near-impossible to cross, many different kinds of species thrive - including those that originate in Unova. A tale has been told that there is even a safe haven for Legendary Pokémon called Legend Falls...

This region was founded 2000 years before the present by a man by the name of Zarath Kaet, whose descendants rule the kingdom today.

Only a few years ago, due to the plea of the next in line, the annual Kaeta Winter Festival began, drawing in trainers from all over the world to compete in the closest things the kingdom has to a Grand Festival and Pokémon League. The trainers who win either get a special prize!

But who will win this year's special prize? Could it even be Kanto's own Ash Ketchum?

* * *

"Do you have what it takes?"

A spotlight shone on a teenage girl. Her long, dark brown hair reached to her waist and the skin on her face was shining, freckles evident on her cheeks. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt, dark blue dress pants, shiny black shoes, a dark green mini-vest, and a light green scarf. The camera zoomed in on her and she opened her emerald-green eyes. She took a Luxury Ball from her vest pocket.

"Go!" said the same voice.

She threw the ball into the air and the Pokémon emerged. A Ninetales, its well-kept coat dazzling, ran forward. The girl snapped her fingers and the Ninetales let loose as many jets of fire as it had tails. They swirled around it and seemed to braid themselves into a single, giant jet of blazing light.

The girl threw another Luxury Ball and a majestic Milotic appeared. It used Aqua Ring and threw itself at the tower of flame, creating sizzling holes as it climbed. When it reached the top, it threw water rings off its body, which each hovered over one of the holes each.

A third Luxury Ball was thrown and a Gardevoir emerged. It created several rings of Magical Leaf and threw each of them at the holes, each ring intersecting the water rings and not touching the fire.

The girl walked toward her three Pokémon as the holes in the fire tower became fire rings. Each set of rings hovered around the trainer and Pokémon.

"The Kaeta Winter Festival will start in three weeks," the girl told the viewers. "We're searching for trainers with a strong heart and a determined mind. Bring your toughest Pokémon and come to Kaeta Castle if you know you can stand up to the challenge. Don't keep us waiting."

Words telling of not only the time and date of the festival, but also directions to Kaeta and its castle flashed onto the screen.

Ash stared at the TV. The last sentence the girl had said made him tense. He was sure every other trainer watching the commercial felt the same way, but she was challenging him.

The TV suddenly turned off, causing Ash to whirl around. Delia set the remote down.

"Ash, don't you think you've been watching TV for a while now?" she told her son.

"It was just for a few minutes," Ash told her. "Tracey told me the commercial was on."

"Since when do kids just watch for the commercials?" Delia asked. "Besides, Professor Oak said he wanted to see you."

"Really?" Ash shouted excitedly. "He told me he was trying to get tickets for a boat to Kaeta!"

Pikachu jumped up from behind Delia and landed on her shoulder.

"Pikapi!" he cried.

Ash dashed to the door, Pikachu jumping onto him as he passed.

"Ash!" Delia shouted from the doorway, her son already several houses down. "Aren't you forgetting something?!"

Ash knew he'd be back at home after this. He'd still need quite a few things before even going to Kaeta, so his mom shouldn't have any need to worry.

* * *

Three weeks later, a Lucario stirred from sleep. The morning rays had just begun to emerge from the horizon. She stepped from the foot of the bed where her master slept and went out onto the balcony.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings: the forest, the courtyard, even the mountain in the distance. It all seemed so mundane now. She felt something coming to her relief - answers she'd been looking for. Even one answer would put her at ease. She caught sight of a bus entering the surrounding town.

_Here they come..._


	2. A Hint of Aura

_Chapter Two: A Hint of Aura_

"We're almost there!"

"There's the castle!"

If most of the people on the bus were fast asleep, they weren't now. Many people were rubbing the sleep from their eyes so they could get a glimpse of the magnificent Kaeta Castle.

Iris jumped out of her seat.

"I see it!" she cried, pointing. "It's coming up over that hill!"

"Miss, please sit back in your seat," the elderly bus driver said.

Iris grudgingly sat back down.

"Oh, I can't wait for the contest!" Dawn cried eagerly. "Piplup and I will get first place for sure!"

"Pip-piplup!" Piplup cheered.

"Don't be so sure, Dawn," Brock told her. "There are trainers coming from all over the world. They're sure to know some contest tactics that you don't."

"It's still good to be hopeful, right?" May asked.

"Just think about all those different flavors of trainers we'll meet!" Cilan told everyone.

"Maybe there'll be some trainers we'll recognize!" Max joined in.

"All I want to meet are the Dragon-type Pokémon!" Iris cheered.

"What about the Water-types?" Misty spoke up. "There are a lot more of those than there are dragons!"

"So what?" Iris told her. "Because dragons are rarer, they're more special!"

"More special?!" Misty argued. "Water-types have more variety!"

"Hmph!" Iris huffed. "Ash, which type do you think is better? Ash?"

Ash seemed to be distracted by something else, not paying any attention to the quarreling girls next to him.

"Hey, Ash!"

Ash jumped, frightening the Pikachu nodding off in his lap.

"Huh? What?" he asked.

Iris seemed a little perturbed.

"Did you hear anything we said?" she asked.

"No," Ash admitted. "Sorry."

Iris rolled her eyes.

"Such a kid," she breathed.

As she and Misty continued to argue, Ash looked back out the window. Why did he have the feeling that he was going to meet someone he'd met a long time ago?

_Stop!_

The voice caught his attention. He looked around. No one had been talking to him. He looked back out the window and spotted a small red figure, a Vulpix, on the road, not paying any attention to the bus coming right at it!

"Watch out!" Ash shouted.

The bus driver spotted it as soon as Ash's warning hit his ears. He hit the brakes, the bus attempting to stop.

"The ice!" he cried. "I can't stop!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Ash saw a figure dash at the Vulpix as the bus was a few feet away. As if he were watching in slow-motion, he saw the figure grab the Vulpix in one arm and grab a firm hold on the bus's bumper. The bus jerked to a stop. Ash saw the figure let go of the bumper. It was a Lucario.

It stood up, the quivering Vulpix in its arm. The little Pokémon looked frozen in fear, but without injury. The Lucario looked at the bus driver and nodded, running off shortly after.

Ash looked back at the other passengers. All of them had grabbed their seats or each other.

"Miss," the bus driver said, driving the bus again, "_that_ is why we stay in our seats."

Shaken, Iris let go of Misty.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "Got it."

"Why didn't that Lucario just pick up the Vulpix and run off?" Cilan asked.

"Because she would have also been hit," Brock said. "She could've also missed the Vulpix and it would have been badly hurt."

"That Lucario was female?" May asked. "Aren't those rare?"

"Lucario by themselves are rare," Max answered. "But I think I heard somewhere that males are usually the ones that go and explore."

"I feel like a met her somewhere," Ash suddenly said.

The others looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"I don't know," Ash told them. "But the thing is: I've never met a female Lucario before."

"Maybe she lives at the castle," Dawn said. "She was heading that way anyway!"

"We'll arrive at the castle in about fifteen minutes!" the bus driver announced.

"We're about to find out!" May said.

As everyone prepared to finally get off the bus, Ash thought about the Lucario.

"Pikapi," Pikachu said.

"Dawn's right," Ash told him. "Maybe I will meet her at the castle."


	3. Opening Festivities

**Sorry for the long wait. Here's a really long chapter for waiting! It would have been much longer, had I not split it from Chapter 2.**

* * *

_Chapter Three: Opening Festivities_

As soon as the bus stopped, passengers poured out, dissolving into the large crowd already on the castle grounds. Every inch of the grounds was bustling with activity.

"I want to explore the castle!" Dawn cried.

"Come on!" May told her. "Let's go!"

The girls ran for the castle, Piplup following closely.

"I'll explore later," Max said. "Right now, I'm hungry."

"Let me come with you!" Cilan told him as they left for the food vendors.

"How can I just stand here when there are all these beautiful women everywhere?!" Brock shouted.

He made a beeline to the nearest group of girls.

"Not again," Misty breathed.

She, Ash, and Iris heard a roar behind them and turned. It came from inside the courtyard.

Axew finally poked his head out of Iris's hair.

"Axew?" the little dragon asked, curious.

"That must have been a Dragon-type!" Iris proclaimed.

"There could also be Water-types over there!" Misty told her.

"I don't care what type they are!" Ash said as he raced by. "I just wanna meet the Pokémon!"

"Pika-Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered, following him.

The girls followed and they all ran to the courtyard. They were amazed at how many Pokémon were there: Arcanine, Kabutops, an Infernape playfully wrestling (but losing against) a Primeape, Absol, Roserade, and even two Weavile! There were too many to count!

"A Dragonite!" Iris suddenly shouted.

This startled a dozing Dragonite. Instead of being angry, he saw the girl and her Axew as playmates and began to bellow joyfully. Misty's attention was drawn to the sound of water splashing. A Milotic had just emerged from a fountain, curious of the new arrivals.

"Wow! A Milotic!" Misty marveled, approaching.

The Milotic looked at Misty with a gentle gaze and let her come.

Ash was about to check what other Pokémon there were when he felt as if an invisible wave of water passed through him and toward Misty and Iris. He looked at them. They didn't seem to notice anything. Another wave came. It pierced him to the very core. He walked toward the source. The waves seemed to get stronger as he wandered into another part of the courtyard.

Now he could hear quiet music playing. Someone was nearby, playing an instrument. But there was no one else in this part of the courtyard except for a Gardevoir, and the music definitely wasn't coming from her.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu said, pointing upward at the castle.

Ash looked up. In a second floor window, a girl and a Lucario sat with their eyes closed, each taking part in the music. The girl was plucking on the strings of a violin and the Lucario was sending out Aura Pulses on each beat.

The girl had long, dark brown hair, some of it in a long braid and the rest out. She had freckles dotting her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She wore large, round glasses with black frames, magnifying her emerald-green eyes. She also wore a blue coat, black pants, and black boots.

The Lucario, however, was the same one that rescued the Vulpix earlier.

It wasn't long until Ash and Pikachu were noticed. The girl opened her eyes and looked down at them. She stopped playing her violin.

"We have an audience," she told the Lucario.

She jumped down, her descent slowed by the Gardevoir. She stood in front of Ash.

"Welcome to the castle!" she told him.

The Lucario jumped down. As soon as she looked at Ash, the two of them sensed and somehow recognized each other's Aura.

"Do I know you?" the Lucario asked.

Ash was about to say that he didn't know her, but the girl spoke first.

"Of course!" she said. "Remember? He's Ash Ketchum! That kid from Pallet Town that's been through all of those Pokémon Leagues!"

"But I recognize you from somewhere else, a long time ago," the Lucario continued. "Your Aura..."

She stopped. After about a second, she laughed at herself.

"I'm sorry," she said. "We didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Sage."

"And as for me," the girl answered, "you'll know soon enough."

"That Gardevoir's yours?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "Her name's Grace."

Then Ash noticed something.

"You're that girl from the commercial!" he proclaimed.

"It's about time you recognized me!" the girl told him. "Which one?"

"The one with the Ninetales, Milotic, and Gardevoir."

"Oh, yeah. I was wearing contacts for that one. I hate those things."

Ash looked at Sage.

"Why weren't you in it?" he asked.

"I was ill," Sage replied. "That, and I don't like being in the spotlight that often."

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

He jumped from Ash's shoulder to the girl's.

"Friendly little guy, isn't he?" the girl said. "He reminds me of my own Pikachu, Topaz."

"I'm sure the two would get along," Sage said. "She should be around here somewhere."

As if on cue, a rustling sound came from a nearby tree. A Pikachu poked her head out of the leaves.

"There she is!" the girl said.

Pikachu took one look at Topaz and grew lovestruck. Topaz, however, was distracted for long enough to lose her grasp on the branch she was holding. She disappeared into the leaves and the sounds of her hitting branches filled the air, the humans and Lucario cringing every time an impact was made. When Topaz finally landed on the ground, in a pile of snow and dying leaves, she popped right up.

"Are you okay, Topaz?" Sage asked.

"Pi pikaaa!" Topaz responded, jumping out of the pile.

She ran to the girl and leapt up onto her other shoulder. She looked at Pikachu, curiosity clearly marked on her face. Pikachu's cheeks sparked, and then Topaz's.

"I think they like each other," the girl said.

A few seconds later, Topaz playfully shoved Pikachu, resulting in a playful game of chase. This caused those watching them to start laughing.

* * *

Misty and Iris didn't even know that Ash left.

Misty jumped as Gyarados came out of his Poké Ball.

"Gyarados!" she cried. "What are you doing?!"

Gyarados let out a roar, as if to impress the Milotic. But she didn't seem even the slightest bit amused. She did, however, react to a disturbance in the water. Something large emerged: another Gyarados!

Misty could only stand by and watch as the two Gyarados tried to intimidate each other. The opposing Gyarados let out a roar. But when Misty's Gyarados roared, which seemed to be not much louder, the other Gyarados was immediately struck with fear. He disappeared into the fountain as quickly as he had come out.

Misty's Gyarados roared in victory, but froze. The Milotic, very clearly worried for her friend, cried out and disappeared into the fountain as well.

Misty and her Gyarados were left in complete shock for several seconds, until Gyarados returned to his Poké Ball.

Iris and Axew had watched the entire thing.

"I hope that doesn't happen to me," she muttered.

As soon as she finished her sentence, a Pokémon came out of its Poké Ball. She turned to see, almost certain which Pokémon it was.

Dragonite gave the other of his kind an angry glare. The other Dragonite blinked, but then playfully bellowed.

"Uh, Dragonite?" Iris said nervously as Axew dove back into her hair. "I hope you're not planning to-!"

Her Dragonite interrupted her with an Ice Beam, hitting the other Dragonite squarely in the belly and knocking him over. Iris was about to tell her Dragonite off, but before she could say anything, the other Dragonite, without any sign of injury, bounced right back up like a punching bag. He bellowed playfully and pounded his belly, as if saying, "Again! Again!"

"I see you both met my sister's Pokémon."

Misty and Iris turned to see a girl with a Luxray at the entrance of the courtyard. She had long, brown, midback-length hair. She had deep blue eyes and freckles dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She wore a red sweater, dark red vest, black pants, and black boots.

She and her Luxray approached them.

"Hydro, the Gyarados you just met, has always been a huge coward," she said. "He's lucky he has Belle to stay with him. As for Drago here..."

The Dragonite took joy to hearing his name.

"He takes pride in being a big clown. My other sister adores him."

"I'm glad he's not like my Dragonite," Iris said.

Dragonite huffed angrily and returned to his Poké Ball. This prompted Axew to peek out again.

"You're new to the Kaeta Region, aren't you?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," Misty said. "I'm from Kanto."

"And I'm from Unova," Iris piped up.

"Ax-axew!" Axew cried.

"I remember hearing about you and your sisters," the girl told Misty. "My sister talked about how she won the Cascade Badge using her Ivysaur and Vulpix. She didn't even have to use any of her other Pokémon."

"She sounds like she was a really good trainer," Iris said.

"Even though she was in the first month of her journey around the world?" the girl said.

"She was just starting?" Misty asked.

The girl shrugged and smiled.

"We had good teachers," she said.

The Luxray seemed to get a little antsy.

"Time to start the stopwatch," the girl said.

"What?" Misty and Iris asked at the same time.

"Nothing," the girl responded. "We're just watching out for an old, dare I say, 'rival' of ours."

The Luxray grew tense and placed herself between her master and the courtyard entrance.

"Hmm..." the girl said. "She's getting faster now. It's about time."

She turned to Misty and Iris.

"We gotta go," she said quickly. "It was nice meeting you."

She ran deeper into the courtyard, her Luxray almost at her heels.

"Bye!" Iris shouted, waving as the two disappeared around the corner.

"Axew!" Axew shouted as well.

* * *

Topaz stopped suddenly, putting her tail in Pikachu's path. Pikachu was going so fast that he couldn't stop in the snow, tripping over Topaz's tail and rolling to a stop.

The girl stopped laughing, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Topaz always loves a joke!" she said.

Sage grew alert and looked behind Ash. A girl and a Luxray came running around the corner, towards them.

"She's coming!" she cried.

The first girl let out an irritated sigh.

"Oh well," she said. "It was about time she caught on."

She turned and started running, Sage, the other girl, and the Luxray running with her.

"We'll see you later!" she called, turning the corner.

"You can count on that," Sage added, disappearing soon after.

Topaz grew sorrowful. She rubbed cheeks with Pikachu and sped after her master. Pikachu, still lovestruck and slightly covered in snow, grew depressed.

"You there!"

Ash and Pikachu were startled by the sharp voice and turned to look at who shouted. An overweight, intimidating woman stormed toward them.

"Boy!" she barked. "Did you see two girls run by here?"

"Uh, I..." Ash started. "Are you looking for them?"

"Of course, I'm looking for them!" the woman boomed. "Did they come this way or not?!"

Ash was still shocked, not sure whether to tell her or try his luck. If they were trying to get away from her, would it be right to defend them?

The woman grew frustrated at Ash's lack of response.

"Why am I wasting my time with you?!" she growled.

She stormed past him and disappeared around the corner.

* * *

"This castle's just so pretty!" Dawn jittered.

"It kind of reminds me of the one we visited in Kanto," May told her. "It was Cameran Palace. You should visit it sometime."

"Pip-piplup!" Piplup agreed.

Their small group stopped as two girls, one in a Weavile-style ball gown and another in an Empoleon-style ball gown, walked by.

"I can't wait to wear this to the ball tonight!" one cried.

"I just want to wear this for the rest of the day!" the other cheered.

As if on cue, May and Dawn took another look at the flyers from their pockets.

"There is a ball tonight," May said.

"And we get to wear Pokémon dresses!" Dawn almost screamed. "What should we wear?"

"I don't know," May started. "I could go with Blaziken, or Glaceon, or... Glaceon! We could match!"

"Yeah!" Dawn agreed. "And I could go in a Piplup dress!"

She stopped.

"The problem is, I don't have a Piplup dress," she admitted.

"No problem," May told her. "At Cameran Palace, we could rent the costumes. We probably can here!"

"Excuse me, ladies," said a maid, stopping to help. "I couldn't help but overhear. If you're looking for the rental wardrobe room, it would be just around the corner, in the first room on the left."

She curtsied and left.

"Let's go!" Dawn cried.

When they got there, they were amazed at how many dresses there were.

"This is a girl's happiest dream!" May exclaimed.

She and Dawn were about to rush forward to begin their search, but they heard someone muttering indecisively a few rows in.

"This one? No, it doesn't look right. This one? No, it's not my color. This one? What do you think about this one? No, I don't like it either."

May, Dawn, and Piplup inched forward.

"Hello?" Dawn called.

A girl popped up, her head visible above the racks of dresses. A Gothita climbed up onto her shoulder.

The girl had reddish-brown hair in a bob cut hair style. She had large brown eyes and freckles dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Although it couldn't be seen yet by May, Dawn, and Piplup, she was wearing a blue short-sleeved turtleneck over a light green long-sleeved shirt, dark brown pants, and black boots.

"Hi there!" the girl cried, waving.

She and her Gothita dashed over to the girls, completely avoiding Piplup.

"So what are you looking for?" she asked in lightning speed.

"A Glaceon dress for me," May said, a little overcome by this girl, "and a Piplup dress for my friend."

"Okay!" the girl chirped.

She compared her size to Dawn's.

"So you're a little taller than me," she said quickly. "And your friend is a little taller than you. Arielle! Let's get searching!"

The girl and Arielle shot toward the dresses, seeming to scan each row in a matter of seconds. May, Dawn, and Piplup could only stand there in shock. No more than half a minute later, the girl and Arielle were back, the girl with one dress and Arielle with two.

"Found 'em!" the girl announced, handing a Glaceon dress to May and Arielle handing a Piplup dress to Dawn.

Then, Arielle proceeded to show her master the second dress she found.

"Gothi-gothi!" she said cheerfully.

"Oh, it's so cute!" the girl cried. "A Gothitelle dress is perfect! Good eye!"

"Goth-ii!" Arielle chirped.

"There you are!"

May, Dawn, and Piplup jumped upon hearing a sharp voice. In the doorway was a large woman with a frightening expression. The woman stormed in and took the girl by the wrist.

"Why must you and your siblings be so difficult to handle?!" the woman demanded, half-dragging the girl out.

The girl didn't seem at all startled by this.

"See you at the ball!" she shouted, even after she disappeared from sight.

"Gothi! Gothi! Gothi! Gothi!" cried Arielle as she trailed after her master, dress still in her arms.

May, Dawn, and Piplup blinked in bewilderment.

"What just happened?" Dawn asked.

* * *

"This must be why Mom always said to hold hands in a big crowd," Max groaned.

With all of the people on the grounds, it was quite easy to lose one's companion, as Max and Cilan had just realized.

"Cilan!" Max called. "Hey, Cilan! Where are you?"

Distracted by his task, he accidentally bumped into a boy just younger than himself. The boy had short, but shaggy dirty blonde hair. He also had light blue eyes and freckles dotted his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He wore a yellow coat, orange scarf, brown pants, and dark brown boots.

"Oh," the boy said. "Sorry. I wasn't quite watching where I was going."

Max shrugged.

"It's okay," he told him. "I wasn't paying attention either."

"Are you missing someone?" the boy asked.

"Yeah," Max replied. "But I'll be okay. I'm not really alone."

"You have your own Pokémon? Can I see?"

"Sure!" Max proclaimed. "Come on out!"

He tossed a Poké Ball into the air and a bolt of light emerged. Ralts landed lightly on her feet.

"Raal!" she cried.

"Wow! A Ralts!" the boy exclaimed.

"My dad helped me go and find her," Max said. "I met her before and helped save her life, but I was still too young to catch her."

The boy almost pouted.

"I'm not ten yet," he told Max. "But my oldest sister told me she'd help me get a Pokémon on my birthday!"

"Do you have a Pokémon in mind?" Max asked.

"Not really," the boy said. "As long as I don't end up with a Dunsparce, I think I'll be fine."

The two laughed.

"Ral?" Ralts asked, somewhat confused.

The boy suddenly jumped.

"What's wrong?" Max asked.

"I think I just heard a Houndoom," the boy told him. "And where there's a Houndoom here, there's usually a Mightyena."

"So?"

"So I've gotta get out of here!" the boy cried. "If you can, can you distract them for me?"

Max was shocked.

"But they're both Dark-type!" he told him. "I only have Ralts!"

"Sorry!" the boy said. "I need to go!"

He disappeared in the crowd.

Max and Ralts grew nervous as they heard a bark. A Houndoom charged out of the crowd, obviously following a scent. He almost plowed right into Ralts. Ralts stood her ground, basically daring her opponent to get past her.

Seconds later, a Mightyena charged in. Both of the dogs towered over Ralts, but the little Pokémon stood firm. Between the growling dogs and the Ralts with a don't-mess-with-me attitude, there seemed to be a stalemate. Ralts eventually tried to use her psychic power.

"Ralts!" Max tried to say. "That won't work!"

He was surprised to see the dogs grow frantic as they were lifted an inch or two off the ground. Ralts tossed them a few feet backward, leaving them frozen in shock for a second or two. They remembered their task and growled. They charged past Ralts and Max, almost knocking both of them over.

Max stared at Ralts in shock as she kept casting an angry glare in the direction Houndoom and Mightyena disappeared in.

* * *

Not far from the crowds, the three Vulpix were playing together, tumbling over one another and biting at ears, paws, and tails. Some bushes nearby rustled, gaining their attention. Team Rocket jumped out of the bushes, each of them snatching up a Vulpix.

"How adorable!" Jessie cooed, holding a curious female. "One of them for each of us!"

"Who knew this could be so easy!" James cheered, keeping a frightened female from escaping.

"And if we deliver these three to the boss," Meowth exclaimed, having no trouble hanging on to the only male, "there's no telling what else we can get him!"

"Hold on," James said. "If there are three younger Vulpix just playing here, shouldn't there be something else to worry about?"

"Like what?" Jessie asked, tickling the Vulpix in her possession. "An over-protective trainer? It doesn't matter! They're ours now!"

"Quit your bothering!" Meowth snapped. "There's no one around! Not even these little guys can stop us!"

He held the Vulpix up so they were almost nose-to-nose. Seconds later, a puff of smoke came out of each of the Vulpix's mouths, covering their abductors' faces.

"Ugh!" Jessie cried, wiping her face clean. "I guess there are always some downsides."

James and Meowth cleared off their faces. As soon as they looked up, they saw the real problem: a mother Ninetales, glaring angrily at them with a smoking mouth.

"Heh," Meowth laughed weakly. "Don't you know it's bad to smoke?"

A second later, the Ninetales let loose an enormous Fire Blast, not harming her children because of their abilities, but charring their abductors, who fell over onto their backs as soon as the attack finished. The three Vulpix landed neatly on their feet and walked to their mother. They then all walked back toward the castle.

"T-told y-you," James wheezed.

* * *

"Max!" Cilan called.

He walked out of the crowds, still failing to find Max.

"I wonder if he disappears like this all the time," he said to himself.

He noticed Brock sitting on a nearby bench, slouching with a bright red slap-mark on the side of his face.

"I'm guessing you've failed to find someone, too," Cilan said, walking up to him.

"You don't have to guess," Brock told him, scooping up some snow to put on his face.

Something behind Brock surprised Cilan.

"Brock," Cilan told him. "There are three Vulpix behind you!"

Brock turned and saw three Vulpix with only their heads visible above the bushes. Just the sight made him drop the snow.

"Where did you three come from?" he asked them.

The smallest Vulpix climbed out of the bush and took a step forward. He yelped when he felt nothing solid beneath his paw. Brock caught him and placed him on the bench next to him. The other two tried to get to where their brother was without slipping, the younger holding on to the older by biting her tail. Eventually, the older of the females made it safely to the seat of the bench, but the younger slipped and fell on top of her.

"They all look pretty young," Cilan said. "But whoever's raising them seems to be taking very good care of all of them!"

"I wonder where their mother is," Brock thought aloud.

"Nine," came a growl from behind Cilan.

Brock and Cilan turned, almost afraid of what they'd see. The Ninetales, however, didn't seem to mind that her children were playing near these two strangers. She calmly nudged her children with her nose, each Vulpix replying playfully by rubbing heads with her.

"She's definitely their mother," Brock said, standing up.

"One of these Vulpix must have been the one that was almost hit by the bus," Cilan said. "But how could one of them have gotten that far from here without his or her siblings?"

"I don't know," Brock told him, watching as the Ninetales took his seat. "At least they're safe now."

The Ninetales seemed alert that it was almost midday. She barked, resulting in her children climbing on top of her for a ride. She carefully got off the bench and walked away, into the castle.

"I wonder where the others are," Brock said.

"They might be getting ready for the contest and battles!" Cilan told him. "They might be starting soon!"

* * *

There was a long line inside the castle for those signing up for either of the competitions. Ash and his friends were just glad that they'd all signed up earlier.

"... and then this strange girl ran up to us and started talking really fast!" Dawn told the others.

"I'm just glad I could understand her," May added.

"I guess we all met strange trainers," Max said. "The one I met was running away from a Houndoom and a Mightyena."

"Brock and I didn't meet any trainers," Cilan said. "We just met three Vulpix and a Ninetales."

"Hey, Ash," Iris asked, "what's with Pikachu? Is he okay?"

They all looked at Pikachu, who was gazing out the nearby window.

"He seems a little depressed," Misty said.

"Did he meet someone, too?" Brock asked, a little depressed himself.

"When I met that girl," Ash started, "he met her Pikachu. They really seemed to like each other."

Piplup and Axew climbed up to the windowsill and started to talk with Pikachu.

Dawn glanced up at a nearby clock.

"The contest will start soon!" she cried.

"And after that, the battles will start!" Ash said.

"May the best trainer win!" Max shouted.

* * *

**Who else misses the old Team Rocket, when they were always idiots and blasting off? Here they are again!**


	4. The Main Event

**Sorry for the terrible Writer's Block! Hopefully, the next chapters will be out faster!**

* * *

_Chapter Four: The Main Event_

Everyone gathered in the ballroom, where a large platform stood. The lights dimmed and the stage lit up.

"We will now begin this year's festivities," a man announced on the speakers. "The Pokémon contest will commence, and the battles will follow. Let the contest begin!"

**[Enter Theme Song]**

Dawn dashed onto the stage and sent out Piplup and the trainer opposite sent out a Victreebel. The timer started, and Dawn gave her command. Piplup dove at his opponent and spun into a Drill Peck. Soon, he used Ice Beam, the ice shattering upon impact with Victreebel. The Victreebel staggered, but didn't fall. It charged a SolarBeam and shot it at Piplup. Dawn gave Piplup a shout and the penguin ducked at just the right moment. He then flipped onto his back and froze the SolarBeam, giving it a good slap with his flipper. The green ice shattered, giving off a brilliant display and taking several points off Dawn's opponent's score. Under Dawn's direction, Piplup enveloped several ice shards in bubbles and sent them at the stunned Victreebel, deciding the match soon after.

Next came May, who sent out Blaziken. Her opponent sent out a Camerupt, both eager to win the contest. As soon as the timer started, the Camerupt received an order. It stomped on the ground to perform Stealth Rock and quickly used Lava Plume, sending the rocks skyward and exploding them like fireworks. May was unfazed and ordered a Fire Spin to be followed by Overheat. Blaziken formed the ring of fire around her body and used Overheat to break it apart into several thinner rings. May ordered a Blaze Kick and Blaziken kicked the rings at Camerupt, bringing the rest of the "firework rocks" to their creator. May's opponent clearly wasn't expecting this and panicked with his Pokémon as the exploding rocks dealt devastating damage, deciding the match.

Dawn had Piplup start off the second round with a Hydro Pump-spun Bubblebeam, but the Pignite they were facing evaded with Double Team and Flame Charge, creating a deep-red everlasting ring of fire. Dawn ordered an Ice Beam that not only cooled the fire, but it also coated the stage. The Pignite's trainer was a bit too preoccupied by advising her Pokémon on how to stop slipping to notice what Dawn was about to do next. Dawn ordered another Hydro Pump and Piplup slammed the ground with his flippers. Large spouts of water erupted from under the ice, dealing a critical blow to the pig while creating a beautiful scene of ice shards and water droplets.

May, upon seeing her opponent, expected an easier win than before. A boy with a Lucario stood, ready for the fight to begin. May ordered a Fire Spin from Blaziken, but the other trainer ordered a Thunderpunch and disrupted it. The ring of fire was now a ring of fire and electricity, and it kept shocking Blaziken! May quickly ordered a Sky Uppercut to get rid of the fire-lightning ring, but as soon as it lifted, the Lucario followed his trainer's guidance and used Close Combat while still using Thunderpunch. The electricity drew the ring back to Blaziken, continually shocking the energy out of her. Before May could think of a solution, the other trainer called out for a Bone Rush, and his Lucario threw an electrically-charged Bone Rush at Blaziken. He didn't have to aim well at all. The charged bone flew straight at Blaziken, hit her, flew off, and kept coming back until Blaziken fell. May gloomily admitted defeat. She didn't fail to notice, however, that the Lucario looked more humiliated than herself while his trainer went on gloating and calling for his next challenger.

Dawn continued on to Round Three, where she and Piplup defeated a Wailmer while flooding the stage with bubbles and ice crystals. Now in the semi-finals, she faced the boy who defeated May.

**[During instrumental of Theme Song]**

"Ha ha ha!" the boy laughed. "A little Piplup? This should be a piece of cake! Let's show 'em, Orion!"

The Lucario looked embarrassed, but readied to fight.

"All right, Piplup!" Dawn said. "Let's win this for May!"

"And what are you gonna do?" the boy taunted. "Are you gonna use your itty-bitty Bubble attack? It'll be pathetic compared to any of Orion's attacks! We're gonna win this contest and you guys are gonna cry your eyes out when we get the prize!"

Dawn felt a little annoyed, but she wasn't as annoyed as how Orion looked. It looked like his face was getting so red that it showed through his fur.

The timer started and the boy ordered a Thunderpunch, but Orion stood still, fuming.

Dawn almost lost her focus when Orion disobeyed his trainer, but she snapped out of it.

"Piplup!" she said. "Use Drill Peck!"

Piplup dove forward and attacked Orion, but he didn't seem to take any damage at all and the Lucario began glaring at his trainer.

Dawn was shocked that Drill Peck didn't do anything.

"Bubblebeam!" she cried.

Piplup shot bubbles at Orion. The first large bubble hit Orion hard enough to knock him down. However, he just got back up and brushed himself off.

"Hmph," Orion said, "we forfeit."

He simply walked off the stage.

The boy turned as pale as a ghost. He stood there in shocked silence for a few seconds.

"WAIT!" he cried, running after his Lucario. "COME BACK! WE HAVEN'T WON YET!"

"Okay," Dawn said after a few seconds, "I guess we won."

**[End instrumental portion]**

Dawn advanced to the finals and faced her opponent. They sent out their Pokémon: Piplup and a Bellossom. The Bellossom sent a swirling Leaf Storm at Piplup, who froze it all and sent it back. The Bellossom sprinkled Sleep Powder and Stun Spore on the icy leaves and sent them all upward with Petal Dance, causing the powders to glitter in the light. As the powders began to affect Piplup, Dawn ordered a Hydro Pump to clear the air. As the water erupted from the ground, the Bellossom merely danced around, avoiding the jets of water completely. Piplup dove at the Bellossom with Drill Peck and froze over with Ice Beam. The Bellossom danced around the attack and used Petal Dance, but only caught the figure of ice in front of her. As Piplup passed through the jets of water, he froze them, greatly restricting the Bellossom's movement. As soon as he froze all of them, Piplup slammed the ground for another Hydro Pump. Upon impact with the new jets of water, all of the ice shattered and hit Bellossom. The ice glittered with the frozen powders and petals, taking a great deal of points off of the Bellossom's trainer. The girl ordered another Stun Spore, but Dawn told Piplup to use Drill Peck. The powder flew off of Piplup and the penguin finished Bellossom off.

Dawn and Piplup cheered. They were that year's contest champions!

Next came the battles. Ash took to the stage with Pikachu against another trainer and his Weavile. Ash ordered a Thunderbolt, but Weavile evaded with Double Team. Pikachu countered with Quick Attack and fired off an Electro Ball when he had gone through all but the real Weavile. Weavile shot a Shadow Ball at Pikachu, but couldn't evade another Thunderbolt in time. Weavile fell to the ground, unconscious.

Now Cilan and Crustle faced their first opponent: a Manectric. Crustle started quickly with a Rock Slide, but Manectric used Discharge to hit all the rocks away. It lit itself up for a Wild Charge, but once it was close enough, Crustle ended the battle with a Rock Wrecker.

Next up came Brock and Croagunk. The little frog remained calm while the Vespiquen it was facing used Attack Order. Seemingly hundreds of Combees came at Croagunk, but they were all fleeing after Croagunk defended itself with Poison Sting. Vespiquen dove forward, ready to Slash, but Croagunk countered with Brick Break and struck with Poison Jab. The queen bee fell almost immediately while Croagunk stood as calm as he always was.

Then Iris took the stage with Excadrill. Excadrill dove forward at his opponent with Metal Claw, but the Unfezant evaded with Detect. The bird then turned and used Brave Bird. Excadrill defended himself with a Drill Run, but he was shoved back a few feet. Iris saw the chance to attack as Unfezant dealt with recoil damage. Excadrill used a Focus Blast, leaving only three or four falling feathers at where his opponent used to stand.

The next several rounds came and went quickly. Pikachu defeated his opponent with Electro Ball as the Darmanitan used Hammer Arm. Crustle defeated a Scizor by overpowering its X-Scissor with his own. A Mud Bomb-coated Croagunk Poison Jabbed a Toxicroak, shocking all viewers and his own trainer at the power behind it as his opponent fell. Excadrill used Drill Run through a Sceptile's Leaf Storm and dealt a critical blow.

By Round Three, the trainers only got tougher. Pikachu beat a Reuniclus with luck and a well-aimed Iron Tail. Crustle was charred and defeated by an Arcanine's powerful Flare Blitz. A Raichu's Mega Punch-Giga Impact combo ended Croagunk's winning streak. Excadrill avoided a quick defeat by digging right beneath the Hariyama's feet and sending it flying.

Then came the semi-finals. Pikachu defeated the Arcanine with a shocking Iron Tail. After a while of Excadrill and Raichu digging and chasing each other, Raichu cornered Excadrill and used a Giga Impact.

All that was left was Ash and the Raichu trainer. Raichu used Mega Punch while Pikachu countered with Iron Tail. Pikachu used Quick Attack and Electro Ball, but the Raichu was suddenly nowhere to be found. As the ground began to move beneath Pikachu's feet, he jumped and used a Thunderbolt on that spot. The Raichu countered with his own Thunderbolt, but was caught off-guard as Pikachu Volt Tackled his way through it.

**[End Theme Song]**

Raichu lay on the ground, unconscious.

"Ash Ketchum is the winner!" came the announcement.

"All right!" Ash cheered, Pikachu jumping into his arms. "We did it!"

On a platform overlooking the crowd, four children looked down on the new winners.

"Well," said the oldest, "what d'you know?"

* * *

**As you can see with this chapter, I prefer to keep my stories as close to the actual animé, including the theme song. I will keep doing my best!**


	5. Of Royal Blood and Commoner Mind

_Chapter Five: Of Royal Blood and Commoner Mind_

Ash looked at himself in the mirror. He stood by the opinion he had earlier. In this Infernape tuxedo, he looked...

Ridiculous.

Well, maybe he did look somewhat cool. It could have been worse. Dawn could have presented him with a Pikachu tux. That would have been far worse.

"Ash!" Misty called through the door. "Are you ready? The ball starts in fifteen minutes!"

Ash groaned.

"Do I look ready, Pikachu?" he asked his friend, who was sitting on the bed behind him.

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu told him.

Ash smiled a little.

"I guessed you'd say that," he said. "Let's go, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu cried as he leaped onto Ash's shoulder.

They left the room and found that most of their friends had gathered and were waiting impatiently. Misty was dressed in a Goldeen gown, Brock in a Croagunk tux, May in a Glaceon gown, Dawn in a Piplup gown, Cilan in a Simisage tux, and Iris in a Haxorus gown.

"Took you long enough!" Iris told Ash. "You took almost as long as Dawn! And that's saying something!"

"I don't take that long!" Dawn protested.

"Well, almost all of us are here," Brock said. "Where's Max?"

"He's coming," May said. "Here he is now."

Max came down the hall in a Ralts tux, looking quite embarrassed.

"Aw, you look so cute!" May told him. "I still can't believe that you'd wear something I got you!"

"_You_ bought this?!" Max cried. "I thought Mom got it!"

"Too late to change!" May said in sing-song.

"Let's head for the ballroom!" Cilan said. "We'll still have a few minutes before the ball starts!"

They walked down the hall and into the ballroom. All the trainers present were in a tux or dress that looked similar to one of their Pokémon. Everyone was chatting excitedly about the day's events.

While Ash and his friends looked around, they caught sight of two old friends: Riley and Cynthia! Riley wore a Lucario tux and Cynthia wore a Garchomp gown. Ash ran up to them with his friends not far behind him.

"Riley!" Ash said. "Cynthia! What're you doing here?"

"Why wouldn't we be here?" Cynthia answered.

"Are you two going out?" Dawn asked eagerly.

"Yes," Riley told her, "we've actually been dating for about two years."

Everyone was surprised.

"Why didn't you say so?" Iris asked.

"Well," Riley replied, "no one ever asked."

The lights in the room dimmed and spotlights shone on the thrones in the front of the room. A man emerged from the hallway behind the middle two thrones and stood beside the leftmost throne.

"Now announcing the arrival of the Royal Family!" he announced. "Their Royal Highnesses, King David and Queen Alice!"

A man with graying brown hair and dressed in an Alakazam tux and a woman with long, light brown hair and dressed in a Tangrowth gown walked to the center thrones, the king on the left and the queen on the right. They bowed and sat in their thrones.

"Now announcing the arrival of the Royal Children! Starting at the youngest, Prince Buddy!"

A young boy, almost Max's age and dressed in a Riolu tux, emerged from behind the thrones and walked to the rightmost throne. Max stared in disbelief. That was the boy he met on the castle grounds!

"Princess Ruth!"

A young girl dressed in a Gothitelle gown pranced out from behind the thrones and practically skipped to the leftmost throne. May and Dawn's eyes grew wide. That girl they met in the dress room was a princess! And they didn't even realize!

"Princess Kaylee!"

A girl in a Luxray gown walked out from behind the thrones and walked to the throne between her mother and her brother. Misty and Iris gasped. That was the girl they met in the courtyard!

"Princess Zaela!"

A girl in a Lucario gown walked out from behind the thrones and walked to the last throne, between her father and her youngest sister. Ash gazed in shock. That girl with Sage. She was a princess?!

The Royal Children bowed and sat in their thrones. Ash wasn't sure if anyone paid attention, but a few Pokémon appeared behind their trainers' thrones: Sage behind Zaela's throne, a Luxray behind Kaylee, and a Gothita behind Kaylee. Buddy seemed to slump when he saw his sisters' Pokémon.

The man that announced the arrivals bowed to the king and queen and walked away from the thrones. Queen Alice stood up.

"We would like to thank all of you for such an eventful day!" she told the audience. "Now, we will begin the winter ball! The first dance will be a ladies' choice dance. Please enjoy yourselves tonight!"

As soon as their mother finished talking, Zaela and Ruth stood up and walked into the crowd. Kaylee remained in her seat, acting a little shy, while Buddy looked at the crowd of girls his age, quite visibly embarrassed.

"May I have this dance?" Cynthia asked Riley, holding her hand out.

Riley took her hand.

"Yes, you may," he told her.

Ash looked to see if his friends had asked or had been asked yet and realized that he was standing by himself.

"Hi, Ash!" said a familiar voice behind him. "Do you want to dance?"

Ash whirled around to see Zaela standing there with a friendly smile on her face.

"Uh, what?" he asked, struck with shock.

Zaela took his hand and brought him to the dance floor.

"Don't worry, Ash," she told him as they started to dance. "I really wanted to talk, anyway."

"Talk?" Ash asked. "About what?"

"Pokémon, of course!" Zaela answered. "They're always more interesting than dancing! I'm sure your Pikachu has a great story behind him!"

"You bet he does!" Ash said. "He's the first Pokémon I ever got! Is Sage your first Pokémon?"

"Unfortunately, no," Zaela told him. "She was one of my later additions. I started with a Bulbasaur named Tonbo!"

"Tonbo?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," Zaela said. "It was kind of Ruth's idea. But I'm glad I went with it!"

"Zaela! Zaela!" Ruth cried, suddenly nearby. "Look! Look! Look! I'm dancing with the Ralts boy! Hee hee!"

Max looked very embarrassed as he was jerked and swung around.

"Pardon my sister," Zaela apologized. "She gets a little too excited a lot."

Her attention was drawn to the front of the room.

"Ash," she said, "spin me. I want Miss Bossy-pants to think I'm actually dancing."

Ash did as he was told. As he did so, he spotted the large woman he'd seen chasing Zaela in the courtyard.

"Who's she?" he asked.

"Miss Khilos," Zaela told him. "She's in charge of teaching me and my siblings how to be noble. Honestly, I don't think it's working. She spends too much time screeching at us."

She gasped.

_Wake up!_

Ash heard Zaela's voice, even though her mouth didn't move. He looked up at the thrones. Sage was dozing off next to Zaela's chair and grew slightly more alert when Zaela's voice reached her. She looked behind the thrones and suddenly bolted to the dance floor as Miss Khilos barely missed grabbing her arm. She yawned as she walked toward Zaela and woke up completely when she saw who she was dancing with.

"Oh, Ash!" Sage said. "I told you we'd meet again soon."

"Why was she trying to get you?" Ash asked.

"Because of something she thought I did," Sage told him. "Even though it was disproved, she still won't let go of it. It gets quite annoying, especially after more than three years."

"Annoying's right," Zaela sighed. "At least we get our daily exercise in."

"The song is ending," Sage said suddenly.

"Oh!" Zaela said, surprised.

As the song ended, Zaela let go of Ash's hands, curtsied, and almost ran back to her throne with Sage.

The queen stood up.

"May we have this year's champions come up, please?" she said.

Ash and Dawn emerged from the crowd.

"Congratulations to you both on your big accomplishments!" Queen Alice told them. "My children will guide you to your prizes."

She addressed the rest of the audience.

"As for the rest of you, the dances will continue all night!" she said.

The Royal Children stood up and walked toward the hall behind the thrones. Ash and Dawn followed them as the next song started playing.

As soon as they were farther down in the hall, Buddy sighed heavily.

"Finally!" he cried.

"Yeah," Kaylee agreed, stretching. "Finally we can be ourselves."

"No," Buddy corrected, "I meant finally I'm away from all those girls!"

"What's wrong, Buddy?" Zaela teased. "Is there a problem with too many girls?"

"Hee hee!" Ruth added. "You must be getting drowned by girl power!"

"Too bad you don't have a brother to share the girls with!" Dawn said.

The Royal Children fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked.

"It's nothing!" Zaela said, laughing. "We were all just thinking about if we really did have another brother!"

"I'd want Mom and Dad to name him Charlie!" Ruth cried.

"And I'd bet he'd have blonde hair," Kaylee added. "Each child of our parents seemed to have lighter hair color than the previous one."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"You couldn't tell?" Buddy asked.

Ash and Dawn looked at the siblings from oldest to youngest. Dawn gasped.

"It really does!" she cried.

"And don't forget the freckles!" Ruth told them, pointing to her own freckles.

Zaela laughed again.

"As you can see," she said, "we're all quite imaginative."

They finally reached the end of the hall and Zaela opened the door. They stepped into a bigger hall than the last. This hall was heavily ornamented with paintings, expensive furniture, and jeweled chandeliers.

"Why haven't we seen this place before?" Ash asked.

"Because of them," Buddy said, pointing to two guards at the nearest end of the hall. "There are two others on the other side that won't let just anyone enter."

"Entrance is only allowed to Royalty, certain staff, and honored guests," Kaylee added.

They started walking to the far end of the hall.

"Look at all these paintings!" Ruth cried. "Mom did every one of them! Like that one! And that one! And that one! And that one! And-!"

"Mom didn't do all of them," Buddy corrected. "She did all but one of them."

"All but the one Grandpa Silas did," Kaylee said.

"He was the ruler before Mom and Dad," Zaela said. "He was the coolest grandpa ever!"

"And he had a Lucario, too!" Ruth added. "His name was Donatello!"

"Grandpa Silas and Donatello began my love for Lucario," Zaela continued. "So when I got the chance to get a Riolu, I couldn't pass up the opportunity!"

"How did you get her?" Dawn asked.

"I got her from Riley," Zaela answered.

"Then," Ash began, turning to Sage, "are you his Lucario's daughter?"

"No," Sage replied. "He was still courting at the time. Riley just... found me."

Ash and Dawn fell silent for a moment.

"You're an orphan," Dawn said quietly.

Sage nodded solemnly.

"But look on the brighter side of things!" she said, lighting up. "If I weren't an orphan, I'd have never met Zaela!"

Ash and Dawn smiled sheepishly. It was nice to know that Sage was resilient in this subject.

They all reached the door and went into the next room. Ash and Dawn gazed at a large, winding staircase.

"Race you to the fifth floor!" Zaela suddenly cried.

She and her siblings started running up the stairs. Ash and Dawn looked at Sage.

"Why are you waiting?" Dawn asked.

"I just wanted to make sure you two weren't left behind," Sage said. "After all, even if I start a minute after them, I'll still beat them there."

She started running.

By the time everyone had gotten to the fifth floor, they were all panting... except Sage.

"You two are really good at keeping up!" Zaela said, her breathing returning to normal. "You all right, Kaylee?"

"You know how hard it is to run in a skirt!" Kaylee snapped, lifting her skirt so her feet were visible.

"At least none of us wore high heels!" Ruth added.

"Why am I always in last place?" Buddy huffed.

"Don't worry, Buddy," Zaela teased, "there's always the 'Most Improved' award!"

Buddy gave her a look. Zaela ignored him and opened the door. They took the first door on the left after they entered the hall. There was a medium sized room with all sorts of awards on the walls. Certain artifacts were on display in glass boxes. The group walked to the other end of the room. Zaela picked up three small items.

"Dawn," she said, holding a fancy pink contest ribbon in her hand, "here is your prize for winning this year's Winter Festival Contest!"

"I want to give it to her!" Ruth cried, swiping the ribbon from Zaela's hand and offering it to Dawn. "Here you go!"

Dawn took the ribbon and admired it.

"Thanks!" she told them.

"No, thank you," Kaylee said. "That was a good show you gave us."

"As for you, Ash," Zaela continued, holding out her other hand, "you get a choice."

There were two badges on her hand: a red one and a green one, each one bearing the Royal Family's symbol.

"Choose wisely," she added.

Ash paused as he noticed that Zaela's siblings were paying close attention to which one he'd choose.

"Why?" he asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Zaela said. "You see, no one's ever taken the green badge, either because they chose the red one or failed to get the green one."

"Failed?" Dawn asked. "What do you mean by failed?"

"I'm just saying," Zaela continued, "the ones who failed to get the green badge failed the challenge that came with it."

"There's a challenge?" Ash eagerly asked. "What is it?"

Zaela smirked.

"In order to get the green badge," she said, "tomorrow morning, you and the Pokémon you won the battles with must face off against me and Sage!"

"You're on!" Ash said.

"Pi-Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"As I said before, Ash," Zaela told him, "no one's won that badge yet. I'm determined to keep it that way!"

"All right!" Buddy cheered. "Another challenger!"

"I wonder if you'll do better that that Darkrai guy," Kaylee said. "What was his name again?"

"Tobias?" Dawn asked. "You met him?"

"Yeah," Zaela said. "He almost beat us, but he made one fatal mistake."

"What was that?" Ash asked.

"He used Dark Pulse to try to finish me off," Sage said.

"How is that fatal?" Dawn asked.

"'Cause as soon as it hit, Sage got really really mad!" Ruth told them. "It looked like she burst into flames and her eyes got all red and -!"

"What she's meaning to say," Sage said, "is that my ability activated. My ability is Justified."

"As for the fire and really really mad part," Zaela started.

"Oh, I, uh," Sage said, blushing slightly, "I got those from my mother."

"You never want to get Sage too angry," Buddy said. "You know you've gone too far when she suddenly snaps!"

"And then there's Blaze Kick," Kaylee added.

"Yeah! And then she goes like this!" Ruth cried, demonstrating. "Hiyah! Whack! Yah!"

"I don't do that!" Sage protested.

"Well, that's Ruthie," Zaela said.

Ruth was suddenly in Zaela's face.

"DON'T CALL ME 'RUTHIE'!"

"Heh," Zaela said, a little pale, "sorry, Ruth..."

"Hmph!" Ruth pouted.

Then she was suddenly back to normal.

"Hey!" she cried. "Let's go show them all our Pokémon!"

"That's a great idea!" Kaylee agreed.

"All right!" Zaela said. "Let's go!"

Buddy groaned.

* * *

**Zaela and Sage were basically inspired off of Zelda. Zaela was originally meant to be the connection between Pokémon and the Zelda universe, but I chose to keep them apart. Zaela was also originally meant to have silver hair, not dark brown.**

**Kaylee is my sister's character.**

**When Sage says that she inherited Blaze Kick from her mother, I'm trying to imply that, since a baby Pokémon inherits its species and Dreamworld ability from its mother and egg moves from its father, can't the opposite also be true? It would be nice if this concept was put in a future Pokémon game so you wouldn't need a Ditto to get a baby male-only Pokémon.**

**I'm sorry if you don't like the Riley*Cynthia coupling. It's just my personal opinion that they should be together.**


	6. The Pokémon of Kaeta Castle

_Chapter Six: The Pokémon of Kaeta Castle_

"How many Pokémon do you guys have?" Dawn asked.

The six trainers walked down the long staircase, toward the main entrance.

"Plenty," Zaela replied.

"A fair few," Kaylee said.

"One!" Ruth announced.

"Not enough," Buddy said grumpily.

"And they're all in the courtyard?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," Zaela told him. "Kaylee told me two of your friends already met some of them."

"Where _are_ your friends anyway?" Ruth asked.

"It'd be fun to include them," Kaylee said.

"Them and all their Pokémon," Buddy sighed.

"Cheer up, Buddy!" Ash told him. "If you're around more Pokémon, you'll know more about what Pokémon you'll choose as your first!"

Buddy shrugged.

"I guess you're right," he admitted. "It's no fun complaining anyway."

"That's the spirit!" Ruth cried.

"I'm sure there are plenty of downsides to being the youngest," Zaela said. "But do you know my biggest problem with being the oldest?"

"Besides mountains of responsibility?" Kaylee asked.

"That, I can handle," Zaela continued. "My problem is that I don't have any older siblings to learn off of."

"What about Mom and Dad?" Buddy asked.

"They were always busy," Zaela said. "Don't you remember?"

"I only remember the castle," Buddy told her, "not Celadon."

"Celadon?" Ash asked. "When were you in Celadon?"

"For the first almost ten years of my life," Zaela said. "Everyone else obviously had less time than that."

"So you all were born in Celadon?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah," Buddy told her, "and it was all because of Grandpa Silas!"

"You see," Kaylee began, "Mom was going to marry a prince, but realized that he was a complete jerk and there was no way she could get out of it alone. So Grandpa sent her to Celadon to study art."

"And then she met Dad," Ruth continued, "and they got married, and they had the best love story EVER!"

"You won't be saying that forever," Zaela told her.

Ruth's cheeks puffed up.

"Why not?" she asked somewhat angrily.

"Because you'll eventually get married and say that your love story is the best ever," Kaylee said.

"Looks like someone else is dreaming of a love story," Dawn said.

They all turned to Sage, who seemed to suddenly wake from a daydream. The Lucario suddenly blushed.

"Is... something the matter?" she asked nervously.

"Have a guy on your mind?" Kaylee asked her.

Sage seemed downcast.

"Not at the moment," she said. "A girl can dream, can't she?"

Zaela gave her a smile as they reached the door. Despite the large crowd still in the ballroom, many partygoers roamed the castle everywhere that they were allowed.

"Ash! Dawn!"

The group turned to see the rest of Ash and Dawn's friends running up to them.

"Hi," Buddy said. "Long time, no see!"

"Where are you guys going?" Misty asked.

"They're gonna show us their Pokémon!" Ash told her.

"Like that Dragonite we met?" Iris cried.

"And more!" Zaela answered.

"Come on! Come on!" Ruth told them. "Out to the courtyard!"

She ran for the doors to outside, prompting another race. Outside, the sky was dark and littered with bright stars. The air was very cold, but the trainers didn't care.

Zaela walked into the courtyard. It was as silent as a grave.

"No one's out right now," she said.

"Where are they?" May asked.

"They're in the cave under the castle," Kaylee said. "It's where the larger Pokémon sleep at night."

"Come on!" Buddy said, leading the way.

They all walked past the place that Ash had met Zaela and came upon a large hole in the ground that led under the castle. Sure enough, there was a mass of Pokémon there. They all were getting ready to sleep until the trainers entered.

"Hi, guys!" Zaela told her Pokémon as several ran to her. "We have some new friends for you to meet!"

A Snivy, Lillipup, Munna, and Pidove ran for their trainer.

"Aspen!" Zaela said, hands on her hips. "Why aren't you guys asleep? It's past your bedtime!"

"Sni!" Aspen pouted.

"Nicole, can you get them back to bed?" Zaela asked her Lillipup. "If you need to, Artemis can use Yawn on Aspen."

The Munna didn't wait to be asked. She blew a big pink bubble and hit Aspen from behind. The Snivy whirled around angrily, but then loosed a big yawn. The Pidove flew up, took Aspen, and dropped him onto a Ninetales's tails, where three Vulpix and a Zorua were already asleep.

"Thanks, Tina," Zaela said as the other two younger Pokémon went toward the Ninetales. "They aren't too much trouble, are they, Roxy?"

The Ninetales raised her head. She waited for the other Pokémon to nestle into her tails before resting her head on her paws again.

"Didn't you say you started out with a Bulbasaur?" Ash asked. "Where is it?"

"Venusaur!" came a booming cry from behind them.

Zaela ran to her Venusaur as the others whirled around.

"This big guy is Tonbo!" she told them. "Notice anything different about him?"

Dawn only took a moment to notice.

"Oh!" she cried. "He's blue!"

"You started with a blue Bulbasaur?" Max asked.

"Eh, no," Zaela started. "He was just a normal Bulbasaur, right from the egg."

"That's so cool!" Iris cried. "You got to raise your first Pokémon from an egg! How'd you get it?"

"Someone just left him on our doorstep," Zaela answered.

"Someone left an egg on the castle's doorstep?" Max asked.

"No," Buddy told him, "on our doorstep in Celadon!"

"You were in Celadon?" Misty asked.

"Didn't we just tell you?" Ruth cried.

"We told Ash and Dawn," Kaylee corrected, "not anyone else."

"When were you in Celadon?" Brock asked.

"From before Mom met Dad until five years ago!" Buddy told him.

"Looks like we'll need to start at the beginning," Zaela said.

"From when Mom met Dad?" Ruth cooed.

"No," Zaela told her, "later than that. This is the only night we're allowed to stay up all night. I don't want to bore our guests to sleep tonight!"

Kaylee, Buddy, and Sage giggled.

"I want to start off five and a half years ago," Zaela began, "when I was weeks away from turning ten. Mom and Dad were getting ready to pack up and take us to Kaeta. The four of us were pretty oblivious to what was really happening. We didn't really think we were moving, but then again, Kaylee and I didn't know what 'moving' was about and Ruth and Buddy were still toddlers. It was a night about a week before we moved when someone rang our doorbell. Dad went to answer it and came back with a green egg with bluish spots. He told us that it was on our doorstep, probably abandoned by a passerby."

"Do you know who it was?" Cilan asked.

"Nope," Zaela said, "and I doubt I'll ever know."

"Don't you love these kinds of mysteries?" Ruth cheered.

"Anyways," Zaela continued, "Mom and Dad gave it to me, since I was going to need a first Pokémon soon. Then, Grandpa came a week later and Mom and Dad told us about our heritage. We moved to Kaeta just in time for my birthday. It was pretty difficult for me, especially since the world I knew and loved was now thousands of miles away. And it was worse when we met Miss Khilos. She immediately had us changed into 'royal clothing', which we all despised, except for Ruth."

Ruth beamed.

"It's so fun to dress up!" she exclaimed.

"Even when you have to wear heels everywhere?" Kaylee asked grumpily.

"Hey!" Ruth told her. "I can run in heels! Can you?"

Kaylee gave her a look.

"A-hem!" Zaela continued. "So while we were having so much fun getting blisters on our feet, my egg was getting closer to hatching. A few days after I turned ten, the egg hatched into the cutest little thing I'd ever seen: a baby Bulbasaur! As I told Ash a little bit ago, Ruth helped me pick a name for him and we named him Tonbo! For a whole week, he was bouncing right after me, and we were the happiest trainer and Pokémon the castle had ever seen!"

"Then came the Khilos," Buddy said sorrowfully.

"It wasn't proven," Zaela said, anger clear on her face, "but we're sure she did it! I was so busy that day that I couldn't keep an eye on Tonbo. I told him to take a nap in my room, which he always did when I told him to, but something must have happened along the way. Hours after I had last seen him, I got worried about him and went to find him. I found him outside, pulling a small, but heavy cart, and in a very shady area of the gardens - and blue! He was so tired, and I thought he was actually dying! So I grabbed him and brought him straight to our doctor. Tonbo was nursed back to health, but his color stayed blue. I don't care anymore that he's blue, because he's still so darn cute!"

She planted a big kiss on the Venusaur's cheek, causing him to shake his flower with joy.

"That's Tonbo," Sage said. "He's always been a sucker for Zaela's attention."

There was a sudden terrified scream coming from just inside the courtyard.

"It's an Ariados!"

The trainers all dashed out of the cave.

"No one here owns an Ariados!" Zaela said. "If it's attacking someone, we'll be the first to respond!"

They got to the entrance of the courtyard. Two girls, one in a Zoroark gown and the other in a Lilligant gown clutched each other, the one in the Lilligant gown pointing into the forest.

"It's coming!" the girl in the Zoroark gown cried.

The trainers looked into the forest. Sure enough, there was an angry Ariados charging at them.

"Those aren't its normal colors," Buddy asked, "are they?"

The Ariados was indeed colored differently. It was black where it would normally be red, and red where it was normally black. Where it was normally yellow, it was now purple, and there was green where there would normally purple.

"We've got trouble," Iris said.

"All right!" Ash said, Poké Ball in hand. "Let's -!"

"Hold it, Ash," Zaela said. "We'll handle this!"

She looked at Kaylee and they nodded to each other. They turned to look at the castle's roof.

"Pyro!" Zaela shouted. "We need you!"

"You, too, Ember!" Kaylee shouted as well.

In an instant, two Infernapes bounded from the roof and climbed down to their trainers. Zaela and Kaylee pointed at the Ariados, which was now reaching a dangerously short distance.

"Flare Blitz!"

"Flame Wheel!"

The Infernapes charged at the Ariados, Pyro in blue flames and Ember in red. The Ariados didn't seem to even think of turning back. As soon as the three Pokémon collided, the Infernapes jumped back, Pyro with recoil damage, and the Ariados was burnt to a crisp.

"All right!" Zaela cried. "Well done!"

"Good job, Ember!" Kaylee told her Infernape. "Have a good rest!"

Zaela approached the Ariados with caution.

"It looks like they barely knocked her unconscious," she said. "That's odd. Any other Ariados would have been seriously injured. Why not this one?"

"Your Highness! Please step away from that!"

The trainers turned to see several castle guards running to the Ariados.

"Beat you guys to it," she told them. "Please take this Ariados to Dr. Rainer. I want him to at least try to find out why she's this color."

"Yes, your Highness," one of the guards said. "For now, it would be wise to stay inside."

"Okay," Zaela huffed. "If you say so."

The trainers walked back into the castle.

"Well, that was exciting," Kaylee said.

"At least they got to see us in action!" Zaela said. "Do you know how often we're allowed to do that?"

"Barely at all?" Misty guessed.

"Bingo," Buddy said. "All we usually get are Zaela's stories."

Zaela whirled around to face the other trainers.

"I know what we should do next!" she said. "Let's go to the library!"

"The library?" May asked. "Aren't there any other exciting places to go to?"

"But the library is an exciting place!" Ruth said. "That's where all of Zaela's old journals are!"

"You let people read your journals?" Dawn asked dubiously.

"They aren't your average 'Dear Diary' journals," Zaela said. "For two years, they were my hand-drawn Poké Dexes, if you'd call them that!"

"You always call them that," Buddy said. "But they were the closest things to a Poké Dex you had all that time!"

"Come on!" Zaela said. "To the library!"

* * *

**Tonbo is part of my original Blue Version team. When I had once viewed him through either Pokémon Stadiums 1 or 2, he was blue in color. That is the origin of why he is blue.**


	7. Hidden Stories

_Chapter Seven: Hidden Stories_

The trainers walked up another flight of stairs with Pikachu, Piplup, Axew, and Sage just ahead of them.

"The library isn't far," Zaela said. "But we need to hurry. It closes at midnight."

"That leaves us only twenty minutes," Buddy responded.

"That's barely any time!" Ruth cried.

"Barely any if it takes you twenty minutes to walk down this hallway," Kaylee said, motioning at the hallway before them.

Sage let out a laugh and continued to walk with the other three Pokémon. Then Zaela suddenly became very aware that she was walking close to a door on the left side of the hall.

"Sage!" she began. "Get away from that -!"

Before she could finish, the door closest to Sage swung open and hit her so hard that she froze for a second before falling over, dazed.

"Door!" Zaela squeaked.

Another Lucario came out of the door and shut it as soon as he saw who he'd accidentally hit.

"Sage!" he cried, rushing to help her up. "Are you all right?!"

"Isn't that the Lucario that beat me?" May asked.

"Yeah," Dawn answered. "That's Orion."

"Oh, I'm fine," Sage said, her eyes closed as she was rubbing her forehead and letting Orion help her sit up. "I'm not really hurt -!"

She opened her eyes and saw who was there.

"Orion!" she cried, blushing. "I'm - I'm j-just fine! Really, I am!"

"I think somebody has a crush!" Ruth whispered to those around her.

Orion helped Sage to her feet. Zaela twitched, and Ash could tell what was about to happen again. The door swung open and hit Orion, knocking him and Sage over with a cry.

"Orion?" a boy called, coming through the door. "Are you still over here?"

"Kodi!" Orion growled, getting up. "Why must you always make things worse?!"

Kodi's face flushed with anger.

"I don't always make things worse!" he protested. "Sometimes, it's you who -!"

"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Orion barked, storming off.

"Ah! Wait! Orion!" Kodi cried, running after his Lucario. "Does it help to say I'm sorry?!"

Sage slowly rose to her feet, still blushing wildly.

"Wait!" Buddy said after a moment. "Zaela, I thought you said Sage couldn't lie! She said she didn't have anyone on her mind a while ago!"

Sage whirled around.

"First of all," she began, "I can't lie _well_. And I - I wasn't thinking about Orion then!"

"So you do like him!" Misty teased.

Sage blushed even more.

"Well - actually, I," she stuttered.

"That's her problem," Zaela said. "She's so shy around males of her own species and around her age. That's why she hasn't got a mate yet."

"But it's the only way to achieve my greatest dream," Sage said. "I've always wanted to become a mother. Not just to foster other young ones, but also to raise my own offspring."

"In my opinion, it's the greatest thing you could ever do," Zaela said.

Sage gave Zaela a shy smile.

"Fifteen minutes!" Ruth cried.

"Come on!" Buddy said, pointing at the door at the other end of the hall. "The library's right there!"

The trainers hurried to and through the door. They entered a large room with a high ceiling, each wall filled with books of every kind.

"Excuse me," an elderly woman at a desk to the right said, "the library will close at midnight."

"Don't worry," Zaela told her, "we won't be long!"

She and her siblings led their friends to a smaller room on the other side of the library. On one wall of that room was a bookshelf and on the other side was a sofa with two side tables on each side. Zaela took four slightly worn books from the bookshelf and handed them out.

"These are my journals!" she said. "The first one was from when I was in Kanto, the second from Johto, the third from Hoenn, and the fourth from Sinnoh!"

"When were you in all of those regions?" Max asked, opening the Hoenn journal.

"For two years," Zaela said coyly, "from ages ten to twelve. I was at each region for around six months."

"How were you able to do that?" Cilan asked.

"Because of Grandpa Silas, of course!" Zaela answered. "He always seems to know when to send us on our little adventures!"

"These are really good drawings!" Brock said. "It's like they were actually taken by a camera!"

"That would by my good ol' photographic memory," Zaela said. "And Mom taught us all how to be really great artists!"

"And you can guess that Zaela was the quickest learner," Buddy said.

"This was Tonbo's egg?" Misty asked, holding up the picture in the Kanto journal.

"Yep," Zaela replied. "I'll never forget what gave me my first Pokémon!"

"I found another egg!" Dawn said, holding up the Sinnoh journal.

Zaela took a look at the picture. It was an egg with a black top and a blue bottom, separated by a zigzag line.

"That would be the egg Sage hatched from!" she said.

"Wow," Ash said, looking at the picture. "I've never seen a Riolu egg."

Dawn turned a few more pages in the journal.

"What's this?" she asked. "It isn't finished!"

She showed Zaela the page. Zaela's face turned pale and Sage, behind her, seemed to freeze with fright.

Everyone else looked at the drawing. It seemed to be two-thirds of an egg. As far as the drawing was, it looked like a plum-colored egg with small red jewels sticking out every now and then around the bottom.

"So what is it?" May asked.

"It's... uh," Zaela began, still quite pale. "I guess I never finished that drawing! It's - I'll -!"

"It's time to lock up, children," the librarian called.

"I'll tell you about it later!" Zaela said quickly. "Right now, we gotta go!"

The four books were soon put back in their places and the trainers left the library.

"So what was the drawing?" Ash asked.

"C-can we please drop the subject?" Zaela asked. "It's kind of hard to explain."

The trainers fell silent.

"Why don't we head up another level?" Sage asked. "There are some people here that I'm sure you'd like to meet!"

"Why not?" Zaela said with a smile. "There's Dr. Rainer and his family! They're really nice people!"

"But Greg isn't here!" Buddy said. "He's over in Bronzerth on business!"

"Oh, well," Zaela said. "I guess you guys will meet him when you come back. He's quite a character."

"And Zaela socked him right in the face when he tried to kiss her!" Kaylee laughed.

"He was asking for it," Zaela pouted. "No one's allowed to just walk up and kiss me unless they're one of my parents or grandparents!"

"What about Aunt LeAnne?" Buddy asked.

"Including siblings of the people I previously mentioned," Zaela huffed. "You know what I'm talking about!"

Buddy started laughing, but stopped as soon as Zaela began to give him a noogie.

* * *

Somewhere on the next floor, a door creaked open to a dark, empty room. Jessie, James, and Meowth peered in.

"Nothin'!" Meowth cried. "Ain't there anything good in this here castle?"

"Well, we can't sneak past those guards!" Jessie said. "They caught us five times already!"

"There is one more door," James said.

He walked over to open the last door. The three of them were petrified with fright. A Houndoom and Mightyena! Both angry and snapping at them!

"Waaaaaah!" Meowth cried. "Let's get outta here!"

Team Rocket raced to the stairs, leaving a cloud of dust behind them. The Houndoom and Mightyena looked around. They expected someone different, but they weren't anywhere nearby. They looked away from the place Team Rocket had just run off. There was a Lucario walking past, down the other hall! They growled and raced after the Lucario, who happened to be Orion. He looked at them in time to jump, making them slide under and past him.

"This can't be good," Orion said.

He ran in the direction he came, the dogs nipping at his heels.

* * *

Not too far away, the group of trainers walked up the staircase as two people, one dressed in a Carnivine tux and the other in a pink Frillish gown, and a Meowth dashed down the stairs.

"What could they be running from?" Kaylee asked.

"Maybe someone's just playing tricks, just like last year," Buddy said.

The four Pokémon reached the top of the stairs before their trainers.

"Piiiiiiii!" came a cry.

Pikachu turned toward the source of the cry and immediately fell lovestruck. Another Pikachu leapt at him, causing the two to tumble a short ways down the hall. By the time the others got to where the two Pikachu were, the mice were rubbing cheeks, sending off small sparks.

"Topaz!" Zaela said. "I was wondering where you were!"

The Pikachu stopped just long enough for Topaz to wave at Zaela, and then they continued to rub cheeks.

"Aren't they just cute together?" Dawn asked.

One of her Pokémon suddenly came out of its Poké Ball.

"Buneary!" the rabbit cried, at first happy to see Pikachu.

Then she grew devastated as she saw what was happening. She fell over, still as a stone.

"Bun..." she squeaked.

Pikachu and Topaz looked at her with deep concern.

"Oh," Dawn said. "I forgot about that. Buneary, return!"

Buneary returned to her Poké Ball without argument.

"That was... painful," Sage said.

They continued to walk on, the two Pikachu walking next to each other, completely quiet and solemn. They all stopped however, when another Lucario charged into the hall.

"Orion?!" Sage said, blushing heavily.

"I'd start running if I were you!" Orion told her.

He dodged a Hyper Beam as his attackers came into view.

"Houndoom and Mightyena!" Zaela cried. "Not here! Not now!"

* * *

**I can hear a thunderclap when Buneary first sees Pikachu with Topaz.**


	8. Lost Heritage

_Chapter Eight: Lost Heritage_

Houndoom and Mightyena immediately lost interest in Orion and charged at Sage. The Lucario ran along the right side of the wall so the trainers wouldn't get hurt if she dodged an attack.

"Such a nuisance," she growled.

She swung at Houndoom with Bone Rush, but he barely leaped out of the way.

"Can't you ever keep your Pokémon in their Poké Balls, Miss Khilos?!" Zaela said.

"These belong to Miss Khilos?" Ash asked.

"They were the Pokémon that were chasing you, weren't they?" Max asked Buddy.

Buddy nodded. Sage barely avoided a Take Down from Mightyena, causing him to slam into the wall behind her.

"Aren't we going to help her?" Ash asked.

"Actually," Zaela said, "this would be the perfect time to show you just what Sage can do. Sage! Bonemerang!"

Sage ran up the wall and threw the Bone Rush at her attackers, hitting both twice before she landed behind them. Houndoom loosed a Will-O-Wisp at Sage, but she promptly beat it away, hitting Mightyena with it. However, this only made Mightyena faster.

"Oops!" Zaela said. "Quick Feet!"

Sage jumped to avoid a barrage of Take Downs, but the last one hit her foot as she was jumping, causing her to land awkwardly and fall over. As she got up, anyone could tell that she likely sprained her ankle.

"Okay, this is getting bad," Zaela said. "Topaz! Go get Dr. Rainer! I know he isn't in his office right now! Go find him!"

Topaz bolted as soon as she got that order.

"Can't we help Sage?" Dawn asked.

"No," Zaela said. "I can't involve you in this. If anyone catches anything on fire here, whoever's fighting will be held responsible!"

"I couldn't care less!" Orion cried as he rushed forward.

He aimed a Thunderpunch at Mightyena, but was thrown off by Protect. But his Close Combat broke through. This still only made Mightyena madder. Then Houndoom came out of nowhere and bit Orion, making him flinch. By the time Houndoom let go of Orion, the Lucario had landed several kicks and sped past the dogs as soon as he was able.

"Two can play at this game!" he taunted Mightyena.

"Steadfast!" Buddy cried.

But the dogs turned back to Sage. Houndoom used Flamethrower at her. Orion ran in and knocked Sage away, causing burns on both of them and the wall behind them to catch fire! Immediately, the hall's sprinklers turned on.

"Oh, no!" Zaela cried. "Here we go again!"

One of the cameras in the hall turned toward the fighting. It shot a ball of pink electricity at Sage, but she and Orion got away in time.

"Not at me!" Sage shouted. "Get them!"

While she was distracted, Mightyena shot a Hyper Beam at her, knocking her into the now doused wall. She wearily got up.

"Sage!" Orion cried. "Are you all right?!"

Sage didn't have time to answer. She narrowly dodged Houndoom's Fire Fang.

The trainers heard hurried footsteps behind them. They turned to see three people: a man with graying brown hair and wearing a lab coat, a boy with black hair and wearing an Electivire tux, and a girl with short, light brown hair and wearing a Bellossom gown. Ash and Dawn recognized the latter two as the trainers they had each fought in the finals.

"You guys came!" Zaela cried.

"Well, when we saw Topaz running like that," the boy said, "we knew there was something going down where she was headed."

They saw Orion knock both dogs away from Sage with Bone Rush, but then he was hit by a ball of pink electricity from the camera. He fell stunned to the floor.

"Go! Milotic!" the older man shouted. "Aqua Ring!"

He threw a Poké Ball and a Milotic with blue "hair" and a yellow and red tail came out. Rings of water flowed from his body and he threw them at the dogs. Mightyena was soon enveloped by a large ball of water with only his head sticking out, but Houndoom evaded the rings shot at him. One of the rings instead hit Orion, who slowly began to regain mobility.

"Bellossom!" the girl cried. "Sleep Powder!"

A Bellossom came from her Poké Ball and sent a blue powder at Houndoom, but the dog used Flamethrower at Sage, charring the powder to uselessness. The weary Sage managed to escape most of the attack, but cried out as she fell to the floor.

"No! Sage!" Zaela cried.

She and the other trainers grew very alarmed when an angry Mightyena shot a Hyper Beam at them. Although it was weakened by the Aqua Ring, it would still do a lot of damage.

"Raichu! Mega Punch!" the boy shouted.

Raichu came out of his Poké Ball and used Mega Punch to deflect the attack. It hit Mightyena full in the face, knocking him out. Houndoom was distracted by his teammate's defeat and got caught in another Aqua Ring. He tried to use Flamethrower, but only smoke erupted from his mouth.

"Finally!" Kaylee cried.

Orion finally climbed to his feet. Even though he was still suffering from the camera's attack, he summoned a Bone Rush. When the camera fired at him again, he deflected the ball so it would hit Houndoom.

Zaela rushed to Sage.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Zaela, the camera!" Sage told her.

Zaela gasped as she turned to look at the camera. It was getting ready to fire at her, but the older man reached up and pressed a hidden button on it, causing it to revert to the way it acted before the fight.

"Thanks, Doctor," Zaela told him.

"Not a problem," the man replied.

"I bet you guys are wondering," Zaela began, "this man is our family doctor and Pokémon specialist, Dr. Carlos Rainer."

"Wait!" Brock said. "I've heard of you from my studies! Aren't you the same guy that found a cure for a supposedly incurable disease in just over thirty minutes?"

"Yes," Dr. Rainer told him. "I'm guessing you're studying to become a Pokémon doctor?"

"Yeah," Brock said.

"When it comes time for you to start getting experience," Dr. Rainer said, "I'd suggest you come to Casaph City, in the southwestern corner of Kaeta. There is a hospital there that trains doctors for humans and Pokémon alike!"

"Thanks, Doctor," Brock told him.

"Couldn't resist the opportunity, could you?" Zaela asked Dr. Rainer.

"Not really," the doctor responded. "I hardly get to refer anyone to that hospital anymore."

"Zaela," the Bellossom girl said, "haven't you forgotten anything?"

"Nope," Zaela said. "These two guys are my friends, Alex and Hazel. Almost as soon as my family came here, we became fast friends! They haven't missed a single festival!"

"Pika!" came a cry.

Alex's Raichu turned and let Topaz leap into his arms. Pikachu looked somewhat confused.

"There's Topaz!" Alex said. "This big guy here is actually her dad!"

"Pii?!" Pikachu cried, shocked.

"Well, what do you know?" Hazel laughed. "Pikachu actually beat up his girlfriend's dad!"

Everyone laughed, but stopped when Sage stopped due to her injuries.

"At least you got the fight closer to my office, Zaela," Dr. Rainer said as Zaela picked Sage up.

"I know, right?" the princess said.

"What have you done to my precious Pokémon?!" someone cried.

Everyone turned to see Miss Khilos storming toward them with several castle guards. Dr. Rainer's Milotic shrank the Aqua Ring balls to nonexistence, causing the dogs to fall to the floor.

"Can't you keep tabs on your own Pokémon?" Zaela demanded. "Look at what they did to Sage!"

"_I_ was not keeping tabs on _my_ Pokémon?!" Miss Khilos told her. "What about that one?!"

She pointed at Orion, who had recovered fully from the camera's attack. The guards had already surrounded him.

"That thing should be detained and his owner should be fined!" Miss Khilos proclaimed.

"This is why she didn't want you guys involved," Kaylee whispered to those around her.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong!" Zaela argued. "Orion was trying to help us! He and his trainer should not be punished!"

"Or we can compromise," Orion said. "I can go with the authorities and Kodi doesn't get fined."

"But, Orion," Sage said weakly.

"I'll be fine," Orion told her. "Just get better."

Sage blushed a little. Orion was led away by the guards and offered no resistance.

Houndoom growled a little as he tried to get to his feet.

"Return your 'precious' Pokémon to their Poké Balls, please," Zaela told Miss Khilos.

Miss Khilos angrily did as she was told.

"I want immediate treatment of my Pokémon, Doctor," she demanded.

"It'll have to wait," Dr. Rainer told her. "Sage has higher priority."

Miss Khilos grew flushed in the face.

"I will return in an hour!" she told him. "You had better be done by then!"

Dr. Rainer was unfazed.

"I will likely be done by then," he told her politely.

Miss Khilos stormed away.

"Did we miss something?"

Everyone turned to see Riley and Cynthia. They both had their Lucario out.

"You didn't miss much," Zaela told them.

They all walked to Dr. Rainer's office, which was only a few doors down. The office itself had a small waiting room, an even smaller office area, and two doors that led to two rooms: one was an examination room, and the other was most likely an operating room.

In the examination room, Zaela laid Sage down on the table.

"So where's Mable?" she asked, taking the towel Dr. Rainer handed her to dry Sage off.

"She's helping one of the guests with a headache," the doctor replied. "There is always a handful each year that can't take too much of the noise."

"That's why we wander off," Kaylee said.

"Yeah!" Ruth added. "Why spend all your time dancing when you can show a few special guests around?"

"Speaking of which," Riley started, "has Zaela shown you her 'Poké Dexes' yet?"

"If she hadn't, it would be too late now," Max responded.

"Ash," Cynthia asked, "have you shown them your Poké Dex yet?"

Zaela dropped the towel.

"You have a Poké Dex?!" she asked. "A real-life Poké Dex?!"

Ash, May, Max, and Dawn pulled out their Poké Dexes.

"You all have Poké Dexes!" Zaela cried. "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"Well, you didn't ask," May said nervously.

Zaela rushed over to Ash.

"Can I see it?" she asked. "Please? I promise I'll be careful with it!"

"Sure," Ash told her, handing it over.

Zaela eyed the Poké Dex carefully as she pressed the button to open it.

"Wow!" she said. "You've scanned all these Pokémon?"

Her siblings rushed to her to have a look at the Poké Dex.

"It's so shiny!" Ruth cried.

"Don't smudge it!" Kaylee told her sister.

"I wonder if I could get one when I turn ten," Buddy said.

"How do you scan a Pokémon?" Zaela asked Ash.

"Here," Ash told her, pressing a button. "Now point it at a Pokémon."

Zaela pointed to Pikachu, who was on Ash's shoulder.

_Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon. It occasionally uses an electric shock to recharge a fellow Pikachu that is in a weakened state._

"So cool!" Zaela cried.

She pointed the Poké Dex at Sage.

_Lucario. The Aura Pokémon. By reading the auras of all things, it can tell how others are feeling from over half a mile away._

She pointed the Poké Dex at other Pokémon.

_Axew. The Tusk Pokémon. Its large tusks have a tendency to break, but each time they grow back, they grow in harder and sturdier._

_Mew. The New Sp-_

_Milotic. The Tender Pok-_

"What?!" Zaela cried, pointing the Poké Dex back at the window.

_Mew. The New Specie Pokémon. Because it can use all kinds of moves, many scientists believe Mew to be the ancestor of Pokémon._

The pink Pokémon looked into the room for a second before flying off. Zaela rushed to the window.

"Where did it go?" she asked. "Did you guys see that?"

"I did!" Ruth cried. "I know I did!"

Everyone else began chatting excitedly about the sighting.

"Mew," Sage said. "It's almost as if... I'd seen its aura before."

Everyone fell silent. Zaela walked back to her.

"But this is the first time I've ever seen Mew," she said. "Could you have seen it before? When you were still an egg?"

"Maybe," Sage answered.

Everyone fell silent. Dr. Rainer stepped forward to begin Sage's treatment.

"You know," Zaela said, "we've been trying to figure out what happened before I got your egg. Maybe recalling what you remember will help!"

"There are new faces here," Cynthia told Sage. "You'll likely get new input this time."

Sage paused.

"... Okay," she finally said, closing her eyes.

"At the earliest I can remember clearly, I saw my parents' auras. They were troubled over something. I think they were afraid of something big happening. Father left for a small amount of time, and when he did come back, Mother gave me to him. I think I remember her saying something about a lucky charm, and hoping it will bring us together again. I think she was referring to me. Then, she took my brother and left. That was the last time I'd sensed either of them."

"She had a brother?" Ash whispered to Zaela, who nodded back.

"Shortly after that," Sage continued, "it became very dark for a very long time. Father was the only one I could sense nearby, and I could sense that he was angry. At what, I don't know. When the world lit up again, I... I saw you!"

Sage sat up and looked at Ash.

"That was where I remember seeing you!" she told him.

"You saw me while you were an egg?" Ash asked. "The first time I've ever seen a Riolu egg was in Zaela's journal!"

"Actually," Riley told him, "Lucario carry their eggs in their auras, so they're invisible to the naked eye. That's how they protect their unborn offspring from potential predators. My Lucario did the same thing to his son before he hatched."

"They can hide an egg like that?" Max asked. "Are they able to hide their kids after they hatch?"

"No," Cynthia replied. "Hatchings and any older Pokémon move too much to be able to be hidden by aura. Even breathing would be moving too much."

"So you saw Ash," Zaela said to Sage. "Then what happened?"

Sage lay back down.

"Father took me and ran off. I don't think he remembered that I was with him until much later, but when he did, he told me something. I don't quite remember, but I know he was very glad to see that I was all right. Then I could sense a lot of things happening. Things that made Father sad, angry, and at times, confused. But then Father became very troubled again. I sensed that he was worried for me, and for those around him."

Ash felt something nagging at the back of his mind.

"Do you know who else was there?" he asked.

"No," Sage said. "Since I was only an egg, I could only sense the auras, and I'd only recognize them if I'd been in contact with them a lot before that moment. I only recognized Father's aura. Then, his aura seemed to begin to disappear."

Now Ash's heart seemed to want to pound out of his chest. Could his suspicion be correct?

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Why was it disappearing?"

"It was disappearing," Sage repeated. "I don't know why. But I do remember a feeling of remorse coming over him. As if... as if he was... leaving."

She began to cry.

"He was disappearing quickly. I tried to call out to him, but his aura wouldn't stop disappearing. There was so little left when it stopped, and I had fallen from him because he didn't have enough aura to hide me. Then, it was like he just walked away from me. I called and called, but it was like he left. I'm sure he died! I was all alone for so long! And then I suddenly wasn't alone. There was a presence. Could it have been Mew? Whatever it was, it took me some distance away. I wanted it to leave me alone, so when it put me down, I tried to roll away. I rocked and rocked until I began rolling. I only slowed down when..."

"When you bumped into my leg," Riley finished for her.

Sage nodded as she wiped her tears away.

"Sage," Ash asked, "do you know if your father was owned by a human?"

"I... I don't know," Sage responded. "What are you thinking?"

"I think," Ash told her, "that your father is the Lucario that served under Sir Aaron!"

"WHAT?!" May, Max, and Brock almost shrieked.

"Who's Sir Aaron?" Dawn asked.

"Is he that guy I named my Riolu after?" Kaylee asked.

"I guess so," Zaela said. "But how are you so sure, Ash? Sir Aaron lived two thousand years ago!"

"He did," Ash told her, "but his Lucario was trapped in a staff and I accidentally freed him three years ago!"

"What was his name?" Max asked Sage. "What was your father's name?"

"Eroe," Sage told him. "And my mother's was Fuoca."

"But the one we met was named 'Lucario'," May said.

"Humans may have called him 'Lucario'," Riley said, "but each one has his or her own name. Otherwise, many Riolu could have come running when one mother called for her child. I'm sure my Lucario has his own name, but he and likely many others prefer to just be called by their species name."

His Lucario nodded.

"But there's another thing," Kaylee added, "Sir Aaron lived in Rota, which is in Kanto. Iron Island is in Sinnoh. How could Sage have gotten between the places? That presence couldn't have taken her far in that short of a time, could it?"

"If it was Mew, it could have," Ruth said.

"But Mew and the Tree of Beginning were just recovering from a life-threatening event," Brock said. "Mew wouldn't have left until it was sure everything was all right."

"And something like that could take days," Max added.

"If it was Mew," Zaela continued, "wouldn't it have had trouble holding on to Sage? She may have just been an egg at that time, but even as a baby, Sage was pretty strong. And had a really strong temper, if it got to boiling."

"Well, here's a test we can try," Cynthia said. "Eggs don't sleep after they've gained a consciousness. It would have meant that Sage would have stayed awake while she would be trapped in that staff for two thousand years. Sage, do you remember about how long it was dark?"

Sage was quiet for a few seconds.

"I... I don't remember," she finally said. "It was so long ago. I can't tell for sure."

"Which means we can't tell for sure if your theory is true," Misty told Ash.

"But don't feel bad," Zaela said. "I think we may have gotten at least a little closer to the truth, don't you think?"

Dr. Rainer finished wrapping Sage's injuries and put a bag of ice on her hurt ankle.

"I don't know," Sage said solemnly. "I still feel as lost as I was before."

"Wait a minute!" Buddy cried. "I just realized something!"

Everyone leaned in a little in anticipation of what he was about to say.

"The battle scheduled for tomorrow morning!" Buddy continued. "Will it have to be postponed because of Sage's injuries?"

Everyone looked a little perturbed at the sudden change of subject.

"It won't have to be," Dr. Rainer said. "Sage should make a full recovery by tomorrow morning."

"You should have known this, Buddy," Sage said. "But then again, it is way past your bedtime."

"Aw, come on!" Buddy cried. "We don't get a curfew on the night of the Winter Festival!"

"Well, there's one thing we need to consider," Zaela said. "Do you want to be sleeping through the battle?"

Buddy's cheeks puffed up in anger.

"We need to get out of here anyways," Kaylee said. "The Khilos might be back soon."

"Good point," Zaela responded.

She took Sage from the table.

"You know I can hobble there, right Zaela?" Sage asked.

"Yeah," Zaela told her. "But it's less painful this way."

"For me or for your back?" Sage asked her.

"Stop arguing," Zaela said. "I'm carrying you whether you like it or not."

"Using the Mom Rule on her, huh?" Kaylee asked.

"Why not?" Zaela told her with a wink.

The group began to grow smaller as they walked toward the doors the guards stood by. By the time they got there, only Ash and the Royal Children remained.

"Thanks, Ash," Zaela said. "Thanks for helping Sage."

"We really appreciate it," Sage added.

"I wish I could have done more," Ash told them.

"We all do our parts," Sage said. "At least we know of other places to look up."

"Well," Zaela said, "guests aren't allowed beyond this point. We'll see you tomorrow morning. And don't be late!"

"I won't be!" Ash told her. "You can count on that!"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

* * *

**Before I made the character, I did not know of anyone by the name of Carl Reiner. Any similarities between him and Dr. Carlos Rainer are completely coincidental.**


End file.
